Every Wednesday we feature a witch from our community who truly makes our hearts smile, and who we think you would benefit from getting to know better. It’s very important for us to show a deeper variety of faces and practices because witches come in all shapes, colors, economic backgrounds, and practices.

Danny is an awesome human, who has a great sense of humor and a very good head on her shoulders. She is also our blog editor! She might be a newer witch, but that doesn’t make her magick less potent! Check out this quick interview we did together, and get to know her and her practice better. We know you’ll love her as much as we do!

Also be sure to head over to her Instagram, @northwoodwitch and see more of her magick!

about me/my practice

It wasn’t intentional. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t intentional. I was raised in a Christian household, and I knew I wasn’t that -- whatever that was -- but when I was young, I thought I wanted to be. It’s hard to explain, but I think this describes a lot about me. I knew, for whatever reason, that I didn’t fit there, and this world didn’t speak to me, or about me, or through me, but I wanted desperately a place to fit in.

It took time to realize I didn’t -- and that it was okay. It took me longer still to realize what was different, and why. I knew I belonged to the forest and to something older than I could explain, and knew also that it did not belong to me. It came to me in bits and pieces. It was speaking to the woods and listening to the wind in the pines. It was sitting with the horses and carrying on only what I could call full conversations without ever uttering a word. It was baking to heal myself -- cooking to express my love, my devotion, to protect and to care for. At some point, it became tarot. It was crystals. And then I found a gathering of like-minded people here, and I thought, what a place. To grow, to know. And never once did I think “I need to fit in here” -- it just never occurred to me.

So I knew I was home.

Influences

Florence and the Machine (Rabbit Heart; No Light, No Light; Heartlines), Of Monsters and Men (Crystals; From Finner, Little Talks), The Head and The Heart (Rivers and Roads). I have a whole “witchy” playlist -- it’s still a work in progress. I admit I don’t like anything too “on the nose”, but I like the vibes.

I will admit I’m always on the quest for more books. Always! I’m inspired, in a sense, by Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse -- this isn’t specifically about witchcraft at all, but I’m inspired by the woman at the center of the stories, and the author herself.

Finally, the forest and the ocean are the places I find the most inspiring. I am, after all, a northwood witch. There is nothing that stirs my soul more than the sound of winds through the pines.

currently learning

Everything! Ha. I’m trying to brush up on my Celtic lore, specifically about Brigid and the traditions surrounding her. Outside of that, I’m working to improve my connection with my tarot cards. I don’t think I’d call it a skill, so much, but a relationship. I’ve found working with them daily (or as close to daily as possible, though a recent reading has suggested that maaaaybe it’s not as often as it should be) not only helps my piece of mind, but I’m getting much better at remembering the cards. But! I want to shout out every resource out there. If you’re a baby witch (and damnit, I am, and if I’m not, I’m a toddler or something), I think they’re so helpful -- especially reading multiple sources. It helps you form your own associations for the cards, so when you’re reading, it maybe isn’t so literal. You start to get an idea of how the cards are “speaking” to you, not just what it means.

Up next for me is the runes, I think. I have no connection to Norse lore (I have pretty strong Celtic heritage, ha, as evidenced if by nothing else than my absolutely badge of freckles), but I’ve always found it fascinating!